Obama to ‘Bypass’ Congress on Policy if Needed, Says Carney

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is willing to work around Congress in order to pursue his policy agenda this year, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, a vow that drew criticism from Republicans.

Mr. Carney said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” ahead of the president’s State of the Union address this week that many promises from last year were unfulfilled because of political roadblocks thrown up by Republicans.

“What we saw last year was a Washington that did not deliver for the American people,” he said. “And the president sees this as a year of action, to work with Congress where he can, and to bypass Congress where necessary to lift folks who want to come up into the middle class.”

Among the president’s current priorities are a rise in the minimum wage and immigration reform, which Mr. Carney predicted has a good chance of passing this year despite some Republican opposition.

“We’re actually optimistic that 2014 will be the year that Congress delivers to the president’s desk a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill that meets the principles he laid out and that he can sign into law,” Mr. Carney said.

“It sounds vaguely like a threat. And I think it also has a certain amount of arrogance in the sense that one of the fundamental principles of our country are the checks and balances, that it wasn’t supposed to be easy to pass legislation and you had to debate and convince people,” Mr. Paul said. “The president’s not allowed to write legislation. He’s not allowed to amend legislation. He’s not allowed to initiate war. And he’s not allowed to tell us when we’re in recess and when we’re not.”

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